Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-01-25
Western Letter.
In doing up this big west one is not content
without knowing something of the famous
BLACK HILLS.

In doing up this big west one is not content
without knowing something of the famous
BLACK HILLS.
Boarding a train and bounding westward
from Omaha, Neb., on one of the lines of
the great N w. r. r., six hundred miles
brings you to Rapid City in the midst of the
Black Hill country. This region embraces
of western Dakota and eastern Wyoming an
extent something larger than one half the
State of Maine.
This is country of many noticeable and
mentionable features Nothing has settled
down into grooves and there Is nothing you
can Judge of from rules familiar in other
places. Nature in her exertion has
shown concentration of her forces
to intensity the avarice of man,
and no sooner does he find himself sur
rounded with these boundless resources of
wealth than he feels the fascinations of Mann
mons magnet
There are here noticeably two classes of
men, alike in one respect, but extremely I'M
like in another. In the first class are those
who are impelled into all measures of
life by excitement of the extraordinary From
this class you have the impossible man
whose credulitv is his only leading character
istic. and who without any iity to appro
pirate any other measure to his material in
terests is a pauper in the midst of wealth
From the other part of mankind here YOU
have those who are impossible. but who are
also endowed with the keenest business abil-
i,y, and who seem by intuition to know Just
how to utilize all to their interest. These
men are more than circumstances and are
the lords OF this country.
These hills contain boundless deposits
of precious metals and mine rails and are des-
tined TO attract coming generations to their
vauted treasurers. Don't understand me to
say however that it is obtained without effort.
Not so. Much better that it is not The wis
dom Of Him who aloyed the gold with the
quartz and then rolled great stone against
it is conceded.
1t is probable that in Pennington Co. D. T
alone there will be developed a supply of tin
sufficient for all America No section in the
world presents such variety of minerals and
valuable stone. Gold, silver. lead, copper,
iron, nickel. tin, variety of marble sand
stone, tre-clay, the largest supply of gypsum
in the United States. coal, salt, oil,
lumber and much else that an
swers to the wants of the present
developed condition of mankind and other re-
sources contingen, to the future. Rapid
City is the future metropolis of this little
Black Hill world and although now only 5000
which it has grown to, almost within IA
months. will be in no distant day a city of
one hundred thousand. So say the prophets.
The agricultural interests of this region are
not neglected and are no insignificant factor
There are many farms settled throughout the
valleys and much of the country is well
adapted to farming and grazing. The farmer
is succeeding quite well. The elements are
not liable TO the extremes that you find farther
east, granting repreve to the Black Hills
settlers grestly appreciated. The town, Ike
the people, have crude appearance. The
idea of permanency has only lately been
entertained and now that the Black Hills as
world of itself is being developed, something